Post by Bazza on Sept 10, 2004 18:59:14 GMT -5

The move was to depict the fact that they are locked out while work is waiting to be done inside.

The protest was by 240 men - 150 of them from Teesside - who were employed by Darlington-based engineering company Cleveland Bridge (CBUK), which built the stadium's iconic Triumphant Arch and was due to work on the remainder of the site until the project finished in 2006.

However, CBUK left the site in a contractual dispute with main contractor Multiplex at the end of July. Workers were transferred to replacement contractor Hollandia through recruitment agency Fast Track, believing there were doing so under the Blue Book system, which guarantee terms and conditions.

They were later told they were not working to contract and were sacked. They have been holding a peaceful picket for nearly three weeks.

GMB union shop steward Graham Caster, from Eston, said: "We would not be demonstrating day after day if we didn't feel loyalty to the Wembley site and want desperately to be part of its future."

The demonstration was a combined effort by both GMB and Amicus union members. A number of men are hoping to make a collection at the Riverside ground tomorrow in aid of the workers.

Post by Bazza on Sept 19, 2004 18:16:50 GMT -5

Steel workers on Teesside have being reinstated on the Wembley Stadium project.

workers had agreed to end a bitter dispute and return to work after a deal was worked out between management and unions.

Welder Chris Clark, from Middlesbrough, hailed the decision as a big victory for the men and the GMB union.

"Apart from compensation for the time we have been out of work we have got everything we wanted," he said.

"The compensation issue is now for the union to sort out, the main thing is that we are getting back to work on the right terms and conditions."

Those conditions include operating under the blue book system - which guarantees the same terms and conditions the men had before they transferred to Hollandia.

The Dutch group replaced the men's original employer - Darlington-based Cleveland Bridge (CBUK) - which stopped working on the site at the end of July over a contractual dispute after building the stadium arch.

Two weeks after the transfer the men were sacked for allegedly breaking their contracts and have picketed the site since August 20. They now be phased back to work over the next two weeks.

Hollandia and recruitment company Fast Track will join the Engineering Construction Industry Association, which will bring them under the blue book system.

Steel erector Colin Blount had mixed feelings about the decision, saying: "It's great that Hollandia and Fast Track have to acknowledge the blue book but we will still have to work alongside the people who sacked us."

A member of the Amicus union, he added: "I think we were sold down the river by Amicus. It took 19 days and a lobby of the TUC Conference for them to acknowledge we existed. All of the work was done by the GMB."

John Conner, a spokesman on site for the Amicus members, added: "It is a major victory, but it was the GMB which gave us excellent backing."

Meetings have taken place in London to set up a supplement project agreement between the companies and unions. This will include setting up a project council, consisting of representatives from all sides holding regular on-site meetings.

Mr Conner said: "It means everyone will be talking to each other. This dispute would never have happened if this had been done in the first place."